Illustrated C# 7

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. C# and the .NET Framework

Abstract

The C# programming language was designed for developing programs for Microsoft’s .NET Framework. This chapter gives a brief look at where .NET came from and its basic architecture. To start off, let’s get the name right: C# is pronounced “see sharp.”

Daniel Solis, Cal Schrotenboer

Chapter 2. C# and .NET Core

Abstract

The .NET Framework was originally released in 2002. In terms of programming frameworks, that makes it “mature” in the sense that it contains virtually every significant, desirable feature currently available in major programming languages. Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to think that .NET has reached “old age”; “middle aged” would be a much closer description. After all, C and C++ have been around for far longer than C#.

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Chapter 3. Overview of C# Programming

Abstract

This chapter lays the groundwork for studying C#. Since we’ll use code samples extensively throughout the text, we first need to show you what a C# program looks like and what its various parts mean.

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Chapter 4. Types, Storage, and Variables

Abstract

If you were to broadly characterize the source code of C and C++ programs, you might say that a C program is a set of functions and data types and that a C++ program is a set of functions and classes. A C# program, however, is a set of type declarations.

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Chapter 5. Classes: The Basics

Abstract

In the previous chapter, you saw that C# provides six user-defined types. The most important of these, and the one we’ll cover first, is the class. Since the topic of classes in C is a large one, we’ll spread its discussion over the next several chapters.

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Chapter 6. Methods

Abstract

A method is a block of code with a name. You can execute the code from somewhere else in the program by using the method’s name. You can also pass data into a method and receive data back as output.

Daniel Solis, Cal Schrotenboer

Chapter 7. More About Classes

Abstract

The previous two chapters covered two of the nine types of class members: fields and methods. In this chapter, we’ll introduce all the other class members except events and operators and explain their features. We’ll cover events in Chapter 15.

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Chapter 8. Classes and Inheritance

Abstract

Inheritance allows you to define a new class that incorporates and extends an already declared class.

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Chapter 9. Expressions and Operators

Abstract

This chapter defines expressions and describes the operators provided by C#. It also explains how you can define the C# operators to work with your user-defined classes.

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Chapter 10. Statements

Abstract

The statements in C# are similar to those of C and C++. This chapter covers the characteristics of the C# statements, as well as the flow-of-control statements provided by the language.

Daniel Solis, Cal Schrotenboer

Chapter 11. Structs

Abstract

Structs are programmer-defined data types, similar to classes. They have data members and function members. Although structs are similar to classes, there are a number of important differences. The most important ones are the following:

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Chapter 12. Enumerations

Abstract

An enumeration, or enum, is a programmer-defined type, such as a class or a struct.

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Chapter 13. Arrays

Abstract

An array is a set of uniform data elements represented by a single variable name. The individual elements are accessed using the variable name together with one or more indexes between square brackets, as shown here:

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Chapter 14. Delegates

Abstract

You can think of a delegate as an object that holds one or more methods. Normally, of course, you wouldn’t think of “executing” an object, but a delegate is different from a typical object. You can execute a delegate, and when you do so, it executes the method or methods that it “holds.”

Daniel Solis, Cal Schrotenboer

Chapter 15. Events

Abstract

One common requirement in many programs is that when a particular program event occurs, other parts of the program need to be notified that the event has occurred.

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Chapter 16. Interfaces

Abstract

This description sounds pretty abstract, so we’ll first show you the problem that an interface helps solve, as well as how it solves it.

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Chapter 17. Conversions

Abstract

The .NET Framework was originally released in 2002. In terms of programming frameworks, that makes it “mature” in the sense that it contains virtually every significant, desirable feature currently available in major programming languages. Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to think that .NET has reached “old age”; “middle aged” would be a much closer description. After all, C and C++ have been around for far longer than C#.

Daniel Solis, Cal Schrotenboer

Chapter 18. Generics

Abstract

With the language constructs you’ve learned so far, you can build powerful objects of many different types. You do this mostly by declaring classes that encapsulate the behavior you want and then creating instances of those classes.

Daniel Solis, Cal Schrotenboer

Chapter 19. Enumerators and Iterators

Abstract

In Chapter 13, you saw that you can use a foreach statement to cycle through the elements of an array. In this chapter, you’ll take a closer look at arrays and see why they can be processed by foreach statements. You’ll also look at how you can add this capability to your own user-defined classes, using iterators.

Daniel Solis, Cal Schrotenboer

Chapter 20. Introduction to LINQ

Abstract

In a relational database system, data is organized into nicely normalized tables and accessed with a simple but powerful query language—SQL. SQL can work with any set of data in a database because the data is organized into tables, following strict rules.

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Chapter 21. Introduction to Asynchronous Programming

Abstract

When you start a program, the system creates a new process in memory. A process is the set of resources that comprise a running program. These include the virtual address space, file handles, and a host of other things required for the program to run.

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Chapter 22. Namespaces and Assemblies

Abstract

In Chapter 1, you took a high-level look at the compilation process. You saw that the compiler takes the source code file and produces an output file called an assembly. This chapter takes a closer look at assemblies and how they are produced and deployed. It also covers how namespaces help organize types.

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Chapter 23. Exceptions

Abstract

An exception is a runtime error in a program that violates a system or application constraint, or a condition that is not expected to occur during normal operation. Examples are when a program tries to divide a number by zero or tries to write to a read-only file. When these occur, the system catches the error and raises an exception.

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Chapter 24. Preprocessor Directives

Abstract

The source code specifies the definition of a program. The preprocessor directives instruct the compiler how to treat the source code. For example, under certain conditions, you might want the compiler to ignore portions of the code, and under other conditions, you might want that code compiled. The preprocessor directives give you those options and several others.

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Chapter 25. Reflection and Attributes

Abstract

Most programs are written to work on data. They read, write, manipulate, and display data. (Graphics are a form of data.) For some types of programs, however, the data they manipulate is not numbers, text, or graphics, but information about programs and program types.

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Chapter 26. What’s New in C# 6 and 7

Abstract

This chapter summarizes the changes made to the C# language since the previous revision of this book, which covered C# up through version 5.0. Most of these changes, however, are enhancements to existing functionality or alternate syntax for expressing a given construct in a slightly different manner. Therefore, understanding these changes requires an understanding of the existing functionality of the current syntax.

Daniel Solis, Cal Schrotenboer

Chapter 27. Other Topics

Abstract

In this chapter, we’ll cover a number of other topics that are important in using C# but that don’t fit neatly into one of the other chapters. These include string handling, nullable types, the Main method, documentation comments, and nested types.

Daniel Solis, Cal Schrotenboer

Backmatter